New Jersey’s unemployment rate reached 5.4% in November, the highest level since the COVID-19 pandemic, according to preliminary data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. This marks a 0.2 percentage point increase from September. October’s figures were not available due to the federal government shutdown.
The last time New Jersey saw a November unemployment rate this high was in 2021, when the pandemic continued to affect businesses and daily life.
Will Irving, a professor at the New Jersey State Policy Lab at Rutgers University, commented on the situation: “Things are definitely cooling.” He added, “A lot of tariff uncertainty likely contributed to slow hiring in 2025 even as the lower-than-originally-announced tariff levels took less of a bite out of economic growth than many expected.”
The Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy is part of Rutgers University and focuses on education and research in planning and public policy to support equitable and sustainable communities. The school offers undergraduate and graduate programs in areas such as public policy, health administration, and urban planning, with several research centers dedicated to topics like transportation and health. It has received national recognition for its academic programs and supports initiatives through an advisory board and international professional development opportunities (https://bloustein.rutgers.edu/).
Research centers at the Bloustein School work on issues related to community development, transportation, health, workforce development, and energy policy (https://bloustein.rutgers.edu/). The school’s graduate urban planning program is ranked third nationally, while its undergraduate public health program ranks fourth (https://bloustein.rutgers.edu/).
The Bloustein School operates as part of Rutgers University, located at 33 Livingston Avenue in New Brunswick, New Jersey (https://bloustein.rutgers.edu/), and aims to foster just, socially inclusive, environmentally sustainable, and healthy communities locally and globally (https://bloustein.rutgers.edu/).